Vancouver Whitecaps Made Right Call in Parting Ways with Camilo Sanvezzo

By Juan Pablo Aravena

Anne-Marie Sorvin – USA TODAY Sports

The Vancouver Whitecaps have finally put an end to Camilo Sanvezzo’s saga, and the Brazilian striker will join Queretaro as was widely expected.

The current MLS Golden Boot – after scoring a league-best 22 goals last season – had been training with the Liga MX side for almost three weeks, and finally things ended as the Whitecaps announced they have decided to part ways for the striker – who was under contract for the 2014 season – in exchange for a “record transfer deal.”

While it’s no secret that losing the best player on the team is always a loss, the Whitecaps were wise to part ways with Sanvezzo. He clearly didn’t want to be with Vancouver, and since his intention was to join Queretaro the whole time, it was better to receive money for him instead of having a player on the roster that wasn’t going to play at a high standard.

The Brazilian had some good numbers in his brief MLS career – 39 goals and 16 assists in 92 regular-season appearances – and he should have no trouble adjusting to life in Mexico in terms of skill-set. His character is a completely different thing. The way he and his agent handled this situation is clearly the wrong one as things weren’t clear and still are not even though everything has been solved.

Players come and go but institutions prevail, and in that sense the Whitecaps did the right thing. There is a certain standard for players to behave, and while they can always find another goal scorer to fill the void left by Camilo, they also eliminated what could’ve ended up being a distraction in the locker room after everything that happened.